Feedeetgk beck



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK BECK, OF NEW YORK, LT. Y.

HANGING FOR WALLS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 243,193, dated June 21, 1.881.

' Application filed May 161881. (No specimens.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FREDERICK BECK, of the city, county, and State of New York,'have invented a new and useful I mprovement in Hangings for Walls, to be used in the interior of houses as a substitute for wall-papers or ordinary tapestry-hangings.

Gut velvet has for a long time been regarded as a desirable material to be used in the interior decoration of houses, owing to the rich effect and varied luster which it presents when seen under either sun or artificial light, and it has been long employed as a covering for furniture and as a material for curtains, but it has not been used as a covering for walls because of the great expense of the material and the difficulty of laying it on the wall without injury to the material itself, and so as to make perfect joints. The same effect has been attempted to beobtained by the use of flockpapers, but these quickly collect dust and become dingy in appearance, and the surface of of real velvet hangings is obtained at very much less cost.

My invention consists in backing or lining the cotton velvet or velveteen with paper and then embossing or printing the surface of the velveteen in any desired pattern. The paper gives to the woven fabricbody and firmness, making it possible to trim the edges of the latter without danger of raveling, and thus to match the breadths by perfect joints. The expense of first applying lining-papers to the walls for the purpose of making an even outside surface is avoided, the paper-lining is pasted to the wall, thus greatly diminishing, if not entirely obviating, the danger of injury to the front surface of the material by the careless use of the paper-hangers paste, and the paper body being soft and yielding it is possible to emboss the velveteen in very high relief, and the embossing or printing being done after the paper backing has been pasted to the velveteen and the united fabric dried, the embossin g or the printed colors will not be spoiled by the moisture in the paste used in uniting, which would be the case to a greater or less extent if the velveteen were embossed between dies or printed in water-colors before being united to the paper lining.

The mode of manufacturing my improved hangings is as follows: I take the ordinary cotton velvet of trade, usually termed velveteen, in the piece and plain-that is, without being embossed or printed upon, and 9f such color as may be desired-and a roll of paper of the desired length to correspond to that of the roll or piece of velveteen, and of about the same width, as if the paper be wider than the velveteen the surplus paper is wasted, and if it be narrower there is danger that in confining the trimming of the finished fabric to simply the selvage edges, either from motives of economy or for the purpose of matching the breadths, some part of the trimmed edge may be without its backing and be liable to ravel in the handling, and thereby make an imperfect joint. Paper ofa good qualityshould be selected, and somewhat heavier than that used for the ordinary grades of wall-paper. Paper of a weight corresponding to that of Wall-paper weighing thirty ounces to the roll of nine yards is suitable, but, if it is desired to emboss the fabric in high relief, heavier paper may be used with advantage. It may also be observed that a somewhat porous paper having a slightly rough finish is preferable to a hand-calendered paper, because the surface of the former is better adapted to the absorption of any surplus moisture in the uniting material, and the smooth back of the velveteen adheres to it more permanently. The back or wrong side of the velveteen is then made to adhere to the surface of the paper by means of glue, starch, or gum substitute combined with glyceriue. I prefer gum substitute, because that substance, better than any other known to me, preserves its adhesive properties, and is less likely to part with its moisture and strike through the velvet fabric, thus discolorng or staining it. I mix glycerine with the adhesive substance, so as to prevent as much as possible the shrinking of the paper and its curling up at the edges, which paper is likely to do when drying after being wet. The adhesive compound should be applied to the paper and allowed to partially set, so as to diminish as much as possible the danger of the moisture in the adhesive compound striking through the velveteen. The adhesive compound may be applied to the surface of the paper by means of a brush or in any convenient way, care being taken that it be uniformly laid on. The back or wrong side of the velveteen is then brought into contact with the gummed surface of the paper between plates or rollers, and a sufficient pressure is exerted to unite the two firmly together 5 but too great pressure should be avoided, lest the nap of the velveteen be crushed down. This union may be effected in the best manner and most conveniently by means of rollers. The paper and velveteen are wound each upon a separate roll. The former passes over or under one or more guide-rolls, and under a V-shaped box or trench containing the adhesive substance. In the bottom of this box is a slit the width, or nearly the width, of the paper, through which the adhesive compound escapes. The surplus adhesive compound may be removed by means of a conveniently-located scraper, and the remainder may be evenly distributed over the surface by means of a brush. The paper is then led 0K to the pressure-rolls, between the bite of which the gummed side of the paper comes into close contact with the back or wrong side of the velveteen which has been brought to this point from its roll over or under one or more guiderolls, and the surface of that roller nearest the pressure-rollers may be furnished with spirals starting from the center and winding in the same direction outward toward each end of the axes, whereby the velveteen is kept distended and all wrinkles are removed. The pressure-rolls, particularly that one over which the velveteen passes, should be covered with leather or some elastic material, so that the velveteen, and paper may be firmly united and at the same time the nap of the velveteen be not crushed down. From between the pressure-rolls the united fabric is led over guiderollers a sufficient distance to enable it to dry thoroughly to the embossing or printing rolls, where the operation of embossing by means of dies or printing, or both, is performed in the ordinary way practiced by makers of paperhangings. The embossing-rolls should be heated by gas or steam, as heated rolls improve the finish by making the embossed design more distinct and lustrous. The completed fabric is then (after being dried, if colors have been printed thereon) cut into lengths and wound up into rolls.

As the fabric can be cut or trimmed at the edges without danger of stretching or ravelin g, it can be applied to walls or ceilings in the manner in which flock-papers are usually put Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

A new article of manufacture consisting of cotton velvet or velveteen backed or lined with paper or other equivalent material and embossed or printed, substantially as and for the purposes described.

FR. BECK.

Witnesses:

J OHN J. GAULDVVELL, EMILIO DEL P1No. 

